31-year-old goaltender forced to retire due to significant injuries to his head and neck
A 31-year-old goaltender, whose last few seasons have been riddled with injury issues, Swedish goaltender Anders Nilsson had some news to share with the hockey world on Sunday - and, unfortunately, the news was not good.
The veteran backup goaltender announced his retirement on Instagram on Sunday, citing his neck issues and post-concussion symptoms as his reasoning behind the decision.
A very unfortunate turn of events for Nilsson, a 3rd-round pick of the New York Islanders back in 2009 (62nd-overall).
While not exactly a household name, Nilsson built a career for himself as a capable depth goaltender, carrying a career .907 SV% in the best league in the world. Nilsson even managed to put up some upper-level numbers during the 2016-17 season, where he posted a .923 SV% to go along with a 2.67 GAA in 26 appearances as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
The Lulea, Sweden native will end his career with just 161 NHL games played, splitting time with the Islanders, Oilers, Blues, Sabres, Canucks and Senators. Tragic to see the career of a decent NHL backup goaltender be cut so short due to such devastating injuries.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||